Unwanted Things
by LaraWinner
Summary: He is a collector of the unwanted and forgotten. She is the one acquisition that slipped through his grasp. It is said "good things to those who wait" and he has waited patiently to reclaim what is his.


**Unwanted Things**

By: Lara Winner

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Labyrinth or its characters.

* * *

He watched her.

Some might say he did so with obsessive tenacity but those who knew of his precious fixation would never dare say it to his face. Not many brave the wrath of the Goblin King and even fewer still remained unscathed after initiating such a foolhardy endeavor. She had been brave once, and filled with the righteousness and naiveté of youth. She had faced him in a battle of wills and walked away the victor. In doing so she not only sealed his fate, but her own as well.

He waited.

There was a method to his love… to his madness. He let time take its course, leave scars on her heart and shadows in her eyes. He watched her live in the mundane way that mortals do, but she was touched by his world, his other-ness. Her world no longer held her heart. In dark moments she remembered him, on a few occasions she called out, even wished. He refused to answer. She wasn't ready.

He dreamed for her.

She took solace in her imagination. She made a living off of the stories he showed her in dreams. He kept her spark alive, a controlled flame for his own sanity. No one understood her, not as he did. Not her beloved brother, not even the man she called husband. No one could see the whimsy child within the woman's skin. If he had thought her pretty at fifteen then she was a goddess at thirty.

Then it was time.

Infertility. Fate's cruel design. He did not find pleasure in her pain. He did not smile as her ordinary life fell apart. Her marriage ended with tears and signatures. Her confidence was shattered with her own imperfection. Even her imagination began to diminish, forgotten. Her was future now bleak and unwanted.

She was ready.

* * *

"Jareth?"

The Goblin King smiled with practiced charm as he regarded the stunned woman standing in the doorway to her small kitchen. With a regal nod he greeted, "Hello Sarah."

"I… what…" Sarah stumbled over her words, her face going pale as if she were seeing a ghost. Jareth conceded the fact that in a way, Sarah was. She blinked and then blinked again, looking as if she'd never seen her surroundings before. A touch of sadness shadowed her voice as she dared to ask, "Is this real?"

"I assure you it is." Conjuring a gold watch out of thin air with just a turn of his hand, Jareth pointed to the time piece and chided imperiously, "You're late for tea."

The Goblin King's grin only widened as Sarah's eyes swept the tiny space, taking in the steaming pot of tea and place settings for two at her kitchen table. He supposed that it would put anyone out for sorts to arrive home only to find an unexpected guest and an impromptu tea party awaiting them. Knowing Sarah as well as he did, the gesture would not go unappreciated.

A disbelieving laugh escaped her ruddy lips. "A little forewarning would have been nice."

"Ahh, but where is the fun in that?" he countered, his mismatched eyes twinkling wickedly.

"Where indeed," Sarah muttered with a roll of her eyes as she took her seat. She fixed her tea just as he knew she would, a splash of cream and two spoonfuls of sugar, intent on her task and no doubt trying to find her footing. She still did not look up from stirring her tea when she finally broke the silence. "Why now?"

Jareth understood the complexity of her simple question and he was relived to see a hint of the brash and bold girl she had once been peeking through her adult exterior.

"How best to explain…" Taking a sip of his own tea, Jareth chose his response carefully. "You did not understand what I offered you then. Before now you would not have accepted what lies unresolved between us."

"Unresolved?" her brow arched incredulously, "You make it sound as if I owe you something."

Jareth's smile thinned to a razor sharp edge. "Not something. Someone."

Sarah's reaction was amusing to behold as her muscles began to tense in a rippling effect starting with the slight narrowing of her jade eyes, then the angry purse of her lips, to the stiffening of her shoulders, the straightening of her spine and lastly the clenching of her hands around the porcelain tea cup.

"If this is about Toby you ca-"

"I've no interest in your brother," Jareth interrupted with a dismissive wave of his hand. "That bit of business has been concluded."

"Then I don't understand," she frowned.

"I'll put it as simply as possible. Do you comprehend the basic concept of symbiotic relationships?" When Sarah nodded despite her confusion, Jareth continued, "The labyrinth and I have such a bond. One can not thrive without the other and therefore have certain needs that must be met. You've been proven to fit the required criteria quite splendidly."

"What could I possibly have to offer…"

Jareth allowed her work through the various conclusions in her nimble mind only to bite back a undignified curse as her deductions followed the wrong path.

"A child. You need an heir." Her green eyes flashed with furious hurt as she spat, "Seriously, how can you bring this up? Is there no limit to your cruelty Goblin King?"

"You misunderstand me Sarah," Jareth corrected, his aggrieved sigh bearing a note of impatience, "I've no need for an heir. The labyrinth will have only one king and should I perish, so will the labyrinth. And, to be perfectly honest, I don't particularly _like_ children. They are ornery little buggars and I've a kingdom brimming with pint-sized terrors as it is. I assure you, I have no use for more."

Sarah smirked bitterly, "Ironic that you take pleasure in stealing them."

"I only take what is freely offered." he replied cooly, the snide lilt to his voice daring her to contradict his claim. Instead of taking the bait, Sarah averted her gaze down to her tea. Scowling his discontent at her lack-luster response, Jareth's sneered, "Allow me clarify my purpose, if you will. I deal in dreams. I also happen to be a collector of things unwanted or forgotten, whether it be little brothers or their jaded sisters."

"Unwanted…" Sarah's spoon clattered against her tea cup as it slipped from her slack grip. Excitement tingled along Jareth's spine and anticipation renewed his good humor as she finally made the connection. "That's why you're here… to collect me."

"Of course, precious thing," _Though you have never been unwanted or forgotten by me. _He projected the whispery thought into Sarah's mind and chuckled darkly as she wrapped her arms about herself in a defensive gesture."You're dreams, however, are the very matter at hand," he admitted aloud, "but as I said before, you did not understand what I offered you all those years ago. I'm willing to enlighten you and give you another chance to decide."

Jareth waited, content to watch the play of emotions on her beautiful face as she debated the logic in perusing this further. A pang of triumph cut through him like a knife when Sarah finally raised her eyes to meet his. "Okay, I'm listening."

"You miss the magic of the Underground. You long for its fairytale charm and even its dangerous beauty," he stated with surety because he knew that she did. He didn't need to see the yearning that twisted her lips into a nostalgic half smile. "You need to experience it again, now more so than ever, because you feel you are losing yourself to this numbing reality. You're all out of wishes. Even your dreams are no longer worth remembering."

Her eyes widened, disillusion naked in their depths. "How can you possibly know what it feels like to have nothing to strive for?"

"Now Sarah," he admonished patronizingly, "I'm the king of a timeless kingdom. Very little changes that is not by my will. Yet even my inspiration has its limits. In that sense we are not so different."

He let her take his admission however she chose and quickly resented her knack for insight when she whispered, "You're lonely."

"Perhaps," Jareth agreed with a curt nod because there was no point in denying the truth and he found that the dawning look of curiosity settling about Sarah's features was rather stunning. "Once, a long time ago, a vexing young girl breathed life into my labyrinth with her boundless imagination. It inspired me like nothing else had, before or since. Her very presence rejuvenated my existence. Surely you must remember?"

"I remember aggravating the hell out of you," Sarah grinned, then it faded a little as she said, "I also remember you terrified me."

Jareth merely shrugged. "I did warn you not to defy me."

A spark of insolence lit her eyes. "I did what I had to do."

"Yes, I know. And now I shall tell you a little secret," Jareth crooked a gloved finger urging Sarah to lean in closer. When she complied he brought his lips so close to her he swore he could feel her tremble. Confident in his maneuvering, he breathed, "The more you challenged me, the more I enjoyed it."

Sarah gasped and leaned back quickly, her cheeks aglow. "Jareth…"

It was in the way Sarah said his name, a wary yet breathless utterance, that stirred so many dormant dreams he had long since cast away. He needed her vibrancy more than he dared admit. He needed her capacity to dream and everything else that was a defining part of her in order to make those dreams a new reality for them both.

Jareth's grin turned positively sinful. "I wonder if you have the courage to return and do so again."

"So that's your offer," she asked, "A jaunt through your labyrinth to relive old times?"

"A mere jaunt? Hardly." He leveled Sarah with an affronted glare. "I'm offering to make you my queen. I believe my generosity warrants, at the very least, the duration of your mortal life. But why settle for fleeting decades when I could share my eternity with you?"

"Eternity… is a long time," she answered hesitantly.

"It's only forever, that's not long at all."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Says the immortal Goblin King who can reorder time whenever he wants."

"I did that and more simply to please you. There is very little I would not do. You have only to ask." The admission was meant to be endearing but when Sarah flinched it took Jareth a moment to realize his mistake.

"Then why has it been seventeen years?" she asked, and he could see the effort it took for her to not look away. "I asked… hell, I begged, but you never answered. I needed you and yet I couldn't be certain that you weren't a figment of my imagination." Anger flared, hot and bright, bringing a healthy flush to her pale complextion. "Damn it Jareth! I needed to know you were real!"

"And validating your memories into a quantified physical state would have changed what exactly? Jareth goaded, enjoying the way Sarah's temper added a refreshing variable to their conversation. "Would you have accepted my offer? Would you have put your own needs before your obligations? I think not. As I said, you were not ready."

"But now I am?" she huffed. "You honestly think I'll walk away from my life just to run away with you?"

"Yes," he smirked. "You may find me insufferable and my empathy to your plight may be irritating but in the end you know I'm right because it's what you've always wanted. In fact, now that you know it is a true possibility it's the only thing left that you have the heart to wish for."

Sarah absorbed his words with a disgruntled frown and stared into her cloudy tea as if the innocent little cup held all the answers. Jareth could hear the oncoming resignation in her forlorn sigh. He didn't rush her. He didn't need to.

"Come with me Sarah," he implored. Behind him, where there had only been a wall a moment before, his Kingdom lay before them in all its fantastical glory. He said noting more, simply rose to his feet, held out his hand and waited.

Sarah gasped, her eyes lighting up and casting off shadows as if they'd never been. She bit her lip and hesitated only a second before joining Jareth and slipping her hand in his.

He smiled.

Victory had never tasted so sweet or offered more promise.

* * *

**A.N.-** I wrote this for the LabyFic livejournal community challenge #14 "An Unexpected Guest". I kinda had a Mad Hatter moment when I envisioned how Jareth might go about collecting Sarah. I honestly don't know whom I like better, Bowie's Jareth or Depp's Hatter. Wow, apparently I have a thing for unstable guys… O_o

Currently struggling with ch. 5 of Fragile but it is in the works so no worries. Love you guys. Thanks for reading and feedback is always welcome.


End file.
